I've been fielding questions from applicants to the re-launched "New U" Entrepreneur Fellowship Program funded by The Ford Foundation and administered through UNITY: Journalists Of Color.  In 2010, this project awarded four, $5,000 grants for ideas voted the best through a crowdsource process.  This year, my co-director Alli Joseph and I decided to make it harder to get in, raised grants to $10,000 and increased the number of fellows from 16 to 20. The application window is open now and closes Aug.26.

Naturally, we are getting a lot of questions as would-be applicants look over the requirements while deciding whether or not to apply. I find myself chuckling when I'm asked, "So, Doug can you tell me the answer to the question, 'Why should anybody want to work for you?'"

Uh, no.

The question was on last year's application, and I'm amazed how much consternation it's caused.  It is fundamental that if you are going to lead a team of people into the breech you must have a clearly articulated way to tell the unsure to have faith. Without it, you'll hire the wrong people, they will hire the wrong people and your company will crash and burn.

My advice to the questioner was (1) don't parse application questions, just answer them, (2) recognize there is an element of risk in everything and (3) trust yourself because if you don't how can you expect others to?

Oops, did I just give away the answer?

doug@knowledgewebb.net

 

 

*Chantal de la Rionda edits this blog